lirazel | Fannish Friday: Inspiration Edition

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Fannish Friday: Inspiration Edition

Inspired by my weird productivity streak (I am working on another CQL fic!), here are some discussion questions for the fannish creators among you (which is most of you!).

+ What's your most productive fandom? What fandom have you written the most words/fics or made the most graphic/icons or whatever for?

+ Is there a particular fandom where it's always been easy to produce lots of art and/or meta? One where the inspiration just kept bubbling up?

Or even:

+ Is there a fandom you just keep coming back to over the years even as other come and go?

For me, inspiration has never come as easily as it did when I was writing Infinite fic. I think it was the combination of a steady stream of new "canon" content that it was fairly manageable to keep up-to-date on and the fact that I had a small but wonderful group of people who were just as unhinged about them as I was. We were bouncing off of each other in a very particular way that was very different than how, say, my corner of Spuffy fandom bounced off of each other. (I can't articulate what the difference was--I need to think about it more.)

The words just kept coming! I wrote multiple 100k+ novels! (And I posted them as I was writing them and it was never a problem! I never got behind!) I wrote all kinds of one-shots! I wrote a bunch of different ships! I wrote from so many different perspectives! (I think I've written from the POV of every member? Except, weirdly, maybe Dongwoo?) I have never been so productive as a writer in my entire life as I was in Kpop fandom.

This phase lasted about 2-3 years, and I'm sure it had as much to do with the phase of my life I was in (boring office job) as anything else, but I've never been able to replicate that even in fandoms like BtVS or CQl where I am fairly prolific. I've also never had any experience like that with my original writing. So I think wistfully of that time when writing was so easy and the inspiration never seemed to dry up. Who knows if I'll ever feel that again.

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The most posted stories of mine are in Hockey RPF (16). I think as far as words written and also number of stories are concerned, it's an even tie with the Middle-earth canon, but I have a handful of unposted Elf stories lying about with maybe 100k total still missing (or thereabouts, I haven't counted).

I wrote both canons during my PhD which was so disastrous that I really really badly needed the distraction (and free therapy) writing provided. I knew I'd get a happy end out of it at least and had different things to focus on that weren't how bad things were going. And I wrote a Lot Of Words in those canons. I don't post WIPs, so I basically dropped upward of 50k on people all at once. It was a lot. I actually wrote every day and I wrote a lot.

Now I wonder how I managed that. ^^;;

It's an interesting question, word count versus story count.

I wrote both canons during my PhD which was so disastrous that I really really badly needed the distraction (and free therapy) writing provided. I knew I'd get a happy end out of it at least and had different things to focus on that weren't how bad things were going.

Yeah, I think a lot of us use writing (especially writing fanfiction) as a coping mechanism to deal with whatever else we have going on. I'm glad you had that escape when things were going badly.

Now I wonder how I managed that. ^^;;

Haha, yup! I'm forever looking back at more productive writing times and going, "How the hell did I do it?"

+ Is there a particular fandom where it's always been easy to produce lots of art and/or meta? One where the inspiration just kept bubbling up?
The Guardian drama has been this for me. I think in part because there's an active and generally friendly fandom, with a lot of fruitful discussion happening, partly because learning Chinese has meant I keep going back to the drama and understanding it a little better, and partly because of the content of the drama itself (oh yeah, and Shen Wei's face); I've written twice as many fics for Guardian as for my next most prolific fandom, and many of them have come relatively fast and easily. I'm not actively writing any Guardian fic right now, but I have like four different longfic ideas that I may turn to at some point... I just find it easy to sink into.
(And damn, you're so right, it comes so much more easily than original writing. Oh dear.)

I think in part because there's an active and generally friendly fandom, with a lot of fruitful discussion happening, partly because learning Chinese has meant I keep going back to the drama and understanding it a little better, and partly because of the content of the drama itself (oh yeah, and Shen Wei's face)

It's almost always about a confluence of things, isn't it? (And the faces!)

I just find it easy to sink into.

That's such a good feeling!

(And damn, you're so right, it comes so much more easily than original writing. Oh dear.)</i THIS IS THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD!

I very much suspected Supernatural and I was right. It's sitting pretty at 31 icon posts. BUT. Thanks for making me check, bc I've now realized The Sarah Connor Chronicles sits at 27. I could totally tip the scales on that and dethrone stupid SPN :D

Not so much with my journal tags, but maybe I could eventually have posted enough recs that the "rec" tag can reign supreme. (being so multi-fannish, it's only fitting the top tag not being beholden to any one source lol)

Lol, I love the idea of TSCC beating out SPN!

but maybe I could eventually have posted enough recs that the "rec" tag can reign supreme. (being so multi-fannish, it's only fitting the top tag not being beholden to any one source lol)

Oh yes indeed!

Definitely CQL/MDZS. Especially writing-wise, because I've posted the most fics for it by far. I'd posted a few short ones for Sherlock and nothing for my other fandoms, though I'd also only ever written scenes and never a whole fic for it.
I might have made more graphics (icons) for Pirates of the Caribbean, I'm not sure, but if so, then CQL will catch up soon. XD

It also might be the easisest fandom for me, strangely enough, as it's the first time I felt kind of confident about my writing, like, "Yeah okay, this isn't bad, I can post this." I also get inspired often enough to have things to work on, either because I have an idea of my own or because I see a prompt post or sth like that and think, "Oh I've got an idea for that!"
Discussion shave been similar in all my fandoms I think, though I didn't participate so much in the early days due to being shy.XD

I return to all my old ones now and then, mostly to read some favourite fics or look at fanart. So I regularly check out some PotC fic, or my favourite Sherlock ones, or some favourite authors in Teen Wolf etc. Usually, I don't leave a fandom completely. They're dormant for a while, but then suddenly I want to revisit them.

It also might be the easisest fandom for me, strangely enough, as it's the first time I felt kind of confident about my writing, like, "Yeah okay, this isn't bad, I can post this."

Yeah, I get this!

Usually, I don't leave a fandom completely. They're dormant for a while, but then suddenly I want to revisit them.

I feel this way about most of my smaller fandoms but not my big main ones. I don't have any interesting in revisiting BtVS fandom, for instance. I wonder why?

Perhaps you “outgrew” it, in a way, and it doesn’t provide you anymore whatever you enjoyed about it so much to become fannish. I pretty much stopped seeking out Sherlock fic after S4 because I found that last episode so bad from a storytelling perspective that I couldn’t see how to make anything useful from this new canon. But I do reread old favourites from time to time, because I still love the characters and the early seasons, and what fans did with them.

Perhaps you “outgrew” it, in a way, and it doesn’t provide you anymore whatever you enjoyed about it so much to become fannish.

That's entirely possible!

But I do reread old favourites from time to time, because I still love the characters and the early seasons, and what fans did with them.

I'm glad that the bad ending didn't sour you on the things about it that you actually enjoyed!

The answer to all of those questions is Tolkien's Legendarium! I can't say it's ever been easy, but the inspiration seems never-ending. Perhaps some of that endless wellspring of new angles is due to a fandom towards which I feel a mix of appreciative and combative feelings, just as I feel for the source texts; on the other hand, though, it could be the depth and richness of the texts themselves, or both.

Ah, I see that for you!

Perhaps some of that endless wellspring of new angles is due to a fandom towards which I feel a mix of appreciative and combative feelings, just as I feel for the source texts; on the other hand, though, it could be the depth and richness of the texts themselves, or both.

I'd guess it's all that interacting together. But I love that it's your touchstone!

I've never been a prolific writer, but the fandom where I found it the easiest to just....start writing fics, because I wanted to, and then finish them, with no outside deadline, was bandom. I think it may be in part because an rpf fandom like that doesn't have the same degree of strict canon that a book or movie does, so there's more freedom to just make stuff up and do your own thing, and I found that freeing since I didn't have to worry about getting things "right"!

I think it may be in part because an rpf fandom like that doesn't have the same degree of strict canon that a book or movie does, so there's more freedom to just make stuff up and do your own thing, and I found that freeing since I didn't have to worry about getting things "right"!

I'm also not a prolific writer, and I feel *exactly* this way about five minute fandoms (songs+albums, poems, artworks, anthropomorphic things, and technically RPF could fit here as well!) Writing has never been easy for me, but I find them very inspiring. As for a specific fandom, definitely Sapphire and Steel! In a way, it's a five minute fandom, because it's basically writing about the periodic table! XD

(songs+albums, poems, artworks, anthropomorphic things, and technically RPF could fit here as well!)

That makes so much sense! You can have a complete grasp on it and not worry you're missing out on other things!

As for a specific fandom, definitely Sapphire and Steel! In a way, it's a five minute fandom, because it's basically writing about the periodic table! XD

That is charming!

There is more freedom there, that's true! I don't know that I could ever write ST fic because I feel overwhelmed by how much canon there is, so I sort of relate.

This was fun to muse about today! I love when you do these posts. For me personally, I think my big ones were Harry Potter in my growing-up years (man, weren't we all having a TIME! I truly wrote some astoundingly silly stuff, and a very few things that were pretty good), then The Office (the fanfic scene for that show was just glorious in its early seasons! So fun, so much interest in exploring all the characters), Dollhouse but specifically DeWitt/Dominic (proof that sometimes two people standing next to each other onscreen looking great is more than enough to spark a multi-year movement! This was like the funnest fandom ever), and me old forever #1, Gilmore Girls, which is the fandom that I always feel the most relaxed writing in.

I've always been SO bad at writing novel-length fic, though! I've only finished two: one took six years and the other one took thirteen, lolol. I don't think I've ever had an experience in my life where it was easy for me. I've had an easier time with original novels, which more speaks to how awfully I struggle with novel-length fic than saying anything about my novel-writing abilities, because writing those was so hard too! I just can't handle the pressure of the commitment and having something so hefty on my to-do list; it always outweighs the inspiration and fun for me. I don't often read long fic either, actually; it tends to overwhelm me most of the time. I think I most enjoy the fanfiction world as a one-shots/short stories space and pretty much always have! For some reason that's just way more my sweet spot as a reader and a writer. (Undiagnosed ADHD? Who knows!)

Ah, I'm glad you enjoy the posts! I always really enjoy everyone's answers!

man, weren't we all having a TIME!

We so were! I remember your fic from that time so fondly!!!

DeWitt/Dominic (proof that sometimes two people standing next to each other onscreen looking great is more than enough to spark a multi-year movement! This was like the funnest fandom ever)

I love this!

I definitely immediately thought of Gilmore Girls for you as the one that keeps drawing you back in.

I just can't handle the pressure of the commitment and having something so hefty on my to-do list; it always outweighs the inspiration and fun for me.

I can see that. For me it's that I get distracted by other ideas and wander off.

I think I most enjoy the fanfiction world as a one-shots/short stories space and pretty much always have! For some reason that's just way more my sweet spot as a reader and a writer.)

I definitely see this with you!

Star Trek Discovery, for sure. I think part of it is that there are so many different characters and relationships I'm interested in - if I'm mainly into one specific ship or one or a few characters in a canon, I'll eventually run out of ideas and not have anything else to switch to (especially since for some reason I feel like I get into a lot of canons when they're right about to end or have just ended), so I'll move to a different fandom instead. Plus that provides a wide range of possibilities so I can easily write different things depending on what I'm in the mood for, whether gen character exploration or friendship fic or shippy hurt/comfort or parallel universe adventures or whatever else.

...I still haven't managed to finish any longer fics, though that's true for all my fandoms.

if I'm mainly into one specific ship or one or a few characters in a canon, I'll eventually run out of ideas and not have anything else to switch to (especially since for some reason I feel like I get into a lot of canons when they're right about to end or have just ended), so I'll move to a different fandom instead.

That makes so much sense! And ST:D is so full of interesting characters!

the fact that I had a small but wonderful group of people who were just as unhinged about them

I feel like that is such an important part!! When I had this for a small point in time, I was looking forward to these friends' reactions, or including things I know would drive them wild (in a good way!), and we were constantly inspiring each other and regularly writing off each other's stories, too. It was such a great time. And probably a confluence of factors both in the fandom and in our lives that won't be reproduced again... I hope I get to experience it again someday, though :)

Glad you're having a great streak of inspiration at the moment!!

When I had this for a small point in time, I was looking forward to these friends' reactions, or including things I know would drive them wild (in a good way!), and we were constantly inspiring each other and regularly writing off each other's stories, too. It was such a great time.

YES!!!

I hope we both experience that wild and inspirational and fun time again!

Thank you!

The Mentalist by far, which I think was because it was a procedural canon with a strong character focus, so there were a lot of gaps to fill, and because all the characters on the show had very distinct character voices. Also, even though I didn't ship the juggernaut ship, I still had a small but active readership of people who liked to have discussions in the comments - I still get regular kudos and comments to those fics even though I haven't actively written for that fandom in over 5 years.

The complete opposite was the Doctor Who fandom where the canon had very little space for the kind of stories I like to write (because pretty much every aspect of the Doctor has already been covered in canon) and I usually got zero response to my writing because I was writing an unpopular character and didn't even ship the juggernaut ship for him. (the exception was the fics I wrote for exchanges, which were very well received)

The Mandalorian has gotten me back to writing again because I have found myself a writing niche ("Din Djarin gets hurt") that both allows me to explore the canon and has an audience.

procedural canon with a strong character focus, so there were a lot of gaps to fill, and because all the characters on the show had very distinct character voices.

That makes sense!

The complete opposite was the Doctor Who fandom where the canon had very little space for the kind of stories I like to write (because pretty much every aspect of the Doctor has already been covered in canon) and I usually got zero response to my writing because I was writing an unpopular character and didn't even ship the juggernaut ship for him.

What an interesting experience!

Exchanges are truly golden for many reasons.

The Mandalorian has gotten me back to writing again because I have found myself a writing niche ("Din Djarin gets hurt") that both allows me to explore the canon and has an audience.

That's how I feel about writing Wei Wuxian/Lan Wangji fic. It's just a total coincidence that the thing I'm into is also the thing fandom is into, when that hasn't always been the case in the past.

boring office job

I still remember when you were like "I got bored and made this at work" and it was a complicated graphic trying to delineate each Infinite member's relation to the other six. Also how shocked you were when the forced-prostitution dystopia story turned out not to be a one-shot.

I mean, I've never really written fic but that mad surge of RPF in 2013-16, and you know I'd give a lot to recreate that fic/meta free-for-all we had going back then. I don't know why it was so easy either--I think partly because it was so easy for several of us (because K and Jamie were occasionally writing too, and there were other Infinite writers, and every so often I would be like "welp here's 34K words of Myungyeol angst during the OGS tour") so it was a definite positive feedback loop the likes of which I haven't been able to access since.

Also the line between fic and meta was very thin--it was possible to spin from speculation about the guys' relationships with each other / treatment by their management / attitudes towards their work / treatment of women / relationships with other idols, to stories in which those elements could be added, on a dime. I see that some in your discussions of MDZS stories but I wonder if there's less to run with there? Or your engagement with the MDZS characters is different?

And then if either of us had gotten pulled into the KinnPorsche vortex with Jamie we'd probably be feeling differently about missing a rich fandom vein.

It's funny how I absolutely will not write or read fic about my current dudes. I don't know why not. It definitely exists (albeit maybe not in English) and maybe if I went looking for it I'd find someone knowledgeable? It's not a rational aversion, but it's an aversion nonetheless.

I still remember when you were like "I got bored and made this at work" and it was a complicated graphic trying to delineate each Infinite member's relation to the other six. Also how shocked you were when the forced-prostitution dystopia story turned out not to be a one-shot.

Lol yes! I wrote soooooo much fic in the cubicle!

It was such a wonderful time! I'm very, very thankful for that time! (And I still reread your fics from time to time--they hold up!)

Also the line between fic and meta was very thin--it was possible to spin from speculation about the guys' relationships with each other / treatment by their management / attitudes towards their work / treatment of women / relationships with other idols, to stories in which those elements could be added, on a dime.

Definitely. I think you were always a little more on the meta side than I was, but I absolutely did incorporate some of that stuff in there, too.

I see that some in your discussions of MDZS stories but I wonder if there's less to run with there? Or your engagement with the MDZS characters is different?

I think my engagement is just different. I need to ponder this more though.

And then if either of us had gotten pulled into the KinnPorsche vortex with Jamie we'd probably be feeling differently about missing a rich fandom vein.

True! Those guys are having a blast! I'm happy for them!

It's funny how I absolutely will not write or read fic about my current dudes. I don't know why not. It definitely exists (albeit maybe not in English) and maybe if I went looking for it I'd find someone knowledgeable? It's not a rational aversion, but it's an aversion nonetheless.

I had thought about that, wondering if you would ever write for them. Do you think the larger cultural gap (it's soooooo much harder both to get subs/translations and just find out general cultural stuff) is a reason for that?

(I won't lie--if you ever wrote fic digging into the whole flat earth thing and trying to grapple with it, I would read that! Lol!)

Do you think the larger cultural gap (it's soooooo much harder both to get subs/translations and just find out general cultural stuff) is a reason for that?

I think that's 80% of the problem--when we were writing K-pop RPF we probably got a lot of subtle stuff wrong, but we at least had some guidance as to, say, banmal/jeondemal, or the food, or the whole same-age friends issues. A lot of that is just not available yet for Q-pop. Back when Yuri! on Ice was a thing you could occasionally find information about Kazakhstan for Otayuri writers, but not in detail, and Otabek canonically hadn't been in Kazakhstan for years, so writers could avoid setting fics there.

(Also: in K-pop you usually have one language to work with. I swear if you tried to write about Ninety One you'd have to spend half the time establishing who's speaking which language with whom? Zhadra reportedly doesn't speak Kazakh, I'm not sure I've ever heard Veronika speak Kazakh, AZ didn't speak Russian when he first joined Juz, I think Bala's more comfortable in Russian than Kazakh, I only two months ago learned that Ace's family spoke Kazakh at home but he also learned Russian as a kid. It's fascinating but whew.)

But there are other reasons, namely that the guys definitely have seen Kazakh-authored fics (and understandably been a little squicked out by it, though they were careful not to make too much of that) and also with two of them married... I don't know, I always found it easier to write in the absence of any confirmed relationships, I know other folks write RPF and involve the real-life spouses (there was a lot of that in Supernatural RPF, is my understanding) but it always struck me as trampling over a boundary. In theory you could go pretty damn benign (i.e. Bala and Alem's big brother/little brother/[but also partners in music-making crime] relationship might have been affected by Veronika's arrival, and you could show that happening without even suggesting that anyone went to unhealthy places), but I just never felt comfortable doing it.

(I won't lie--if you ever wrote fic digging into the whole flat earth thing and trying to grapple with it, I would read that! Lol!)
*wailing* I still don't have the actual interview translated, all I have is that timestamp, I'd at least like to hear the explanation the man himself gives, where is my Babelfish, sob

Oh, I didn't even think of the language thing! I was thinking about all the resources we had and how those wouldn't be there for Kazakh culture, but I didn't even think about the language issues. I will say this: my favorite book series (the Benjamin January books) has characters who speak, at minimum, two languages and are always switching back and forth between English and French depending on the circumstances, and most of the main characters also speak Greek, Latin, etc. And I've never found the "and now we're speaking French" thing distracting.

also with two of them married... I don't know, I always found it easier to write in the absence of any confirmed relationships, I know other folks write RPF and involve the real-life spouses (there was a lot of that in Supernatural RPF, is my understanding) but it always struck me as trampling over a boundary. In theory you could go pretty damn benign (i.e. Bala and Alem's big brother/little brother/[but also partners in music-making crime] relationship might have been affected by Veronika's arrival, and you could show that happening without even suggesting that anyone went to unhealthy places), but I just never felt comfortable doing it.

I understand this. I think I'd feel the same way. (Though it does make me curious about the state of DBSK fandom these days...)

Speaking of Kazakhstan, my colleague was telling me that her husband just got back from there. Apparently her son and daughter-in-law and their kids live there because...the wife is some kind of exec at Chevron.

D. was like, "So one daughter-in-law works for an oil company and the other daughter-in-law is a world-class climate activist."

I said, "Wow, that must make for some awkward family get-togethers."

Her voice was very flat when she said, "Yes."

Anyway, the grandkids are learning Kazakh and Russian and apparently the three-year-old is fluent already because of course she is.

Oh, without even checking AO3 I can tell you my most productive fandom is Rogue One, where the words just kept coming. I remember when it passed Lost on my fic count (long after the word count, because I also just wrote MORE per fic for RO) and going 'huh, so this is how it is!' But I haven't written anything in a year and a half (depression and a worldwide pandemic and job stress have sapped me of so much energy and creativity), but I feel like I have so many stories left to tell within that 'verse. I hope I can go back sooner rather than later.

The difference between word count and story count is so interesting! I love that Rogue One is first for both for you!

but I feel like I have so many stories left to tell within that 'verse. I hope I can go back sooner rather than later.

I so hope you can!!!!!

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Fannish Friday: Inspiration Edition

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